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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: hand · bear · clip · lie · wind · kick · bark · lash

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. bear — the animal
  6. hand — help
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. kick — in football
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — to recline
  16. hand — in cards
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. bark — to shout
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bear — the animal
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — to turn a key

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com